The year is 1985 and there’s a new fad hitting the shelves. It’s even more popular than neon green leg warmers. Jolt Cola, with its 100 milligrams of caffeine per serving, provided workaholics and strung-out students that extra burst — or better yet, explosion — of energy. Today, Jolt’s initial slogan of “all the sugar and twice the caffeine” can’t compete with the complex ingredient list found in our modern energy tonics. Despite the economic slump, the global sales of fortified beverages have reached beyond $40 billion.

Take a walk through Central Market, or even your corner gas station, and you’ll find drinks, pills, powders and bars that appear to contain enough energy supplements to power the Longhorn’s entire defensive line. But, do they work? From the old standbys to the unpronounceable, we attempt to eliminate the mysteries of the elusive energy elixir.


INTERVIEW WITH DR. JOHN IVY
Dr. John Ivy, creator of PureSport performance drinks, knows about sufficient energy sources. As the chairperson of the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education in the College of Education at UT, he’s definitely a health expert. Besides being part of a nationally-known company sponsoring athletes like Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps and Major League Lacrosse player Ryan Powell, Ivy’s spent the last 30 years researching simple, healthy options for healthy strength and endurance building. To add to that impressive resume, he’s also published two books on sports nutrition. Ivy tells Austin Fit Magazine what ingredients he thinks are sustainable, questionable and how caffeine really affects your system.

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE ARE SOME OF THE BEST INGREDIENTS IN AN ENERGY PRODUCT AND WHY?
The ingredients that can perk you up for and during a workout are carbohydrates. It should actually be a mixture of carbohydrate, not something simple like high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which is not a good carbohydrate to use. That’s the one most used because it’s the cheapest.

A mixture of fructose, glucose and maltodextrin has shown to work really well to provide energy during a workout. Adding some protein to the drink is also very important as well. It helps the carbohydrate work better and the protein breaks down to amino acids, which are very important in maintaining metabolism during exercise. Obviously having some electrolytes are important, too. This helps with hydration aspects and maintains an electrolyte balance.

WHAT ABOUT CAFFEINE?
Small amounts of caffeine can have strong effects. However, you have to look and see how much caffeine you’re actually drinking. You can drink way too much, but small amounts can actually be beneficial in performance. Red Bull, for example, only has a small amount of caffeine — the same amount found in several cups of coffee. We tested Red Bull in the lab and showed that 500 milliliters of caffeine during a cycling trial did improve exercise endurance.

However, taurine, another ingredient found in Red Bull, is simply an amino acid thought to stimulate the brain. But it’s not really beneficial during exercise or for increased energy.

ANY OTHER INGREDIENTS YOU THINK ARE OVERBLOWN?
Things I don’t think are particularly important are antioxidants. There have been some studies that suggest it might be beneficial, but most studies show no effect on performance. There might be some sort of long-term effect that we don’t know about, but as far as actually helping performance, antioxidants don’t get it done. There’s a lot of components to these energy drinks that we just don’t know about. Things like ribose and so forth haven’t been shown to have any beneficial effect.

HOW DO WE KNOW WHICH INGREDIENTS ARE GOOD AND WHICH ARE BAD?
When we look at these energy drink ingredients, we look at them individually. You don’t know what the effect is within the combination. When we tested Red Bull, people did tell us that they felt more alert. It was a double blind study, so none of us knew which were on Red Bull, and which were on the placebo. I think that these energy drinks do seem to perk you up mentally. The main effect is probably from the concentrated caffeine.

ISN’T IT TRUE THAT THE FDA DOESN’T HAVE A SPECIFIC DEFINITION OF WHAT AN ENERGY DRINK IS?
Yes. But they do have guidelines as to how much of certain ingredients can be in drinks.

DO YOU THINK ENERGY DRINKS LIKE RED BULL AND MONSTER ARE ADEQUATE FOR ENERGY?
I think drinks like Red Bull aren’t really providing a whole lot of energy. They’re providing a mental stimulus, which could actually be a combination of the taurine and caffeine, but it’s not clear.

You can take a cyclist and test him in the lab. If you provide him with caffeine versus a placebo, he/she will show an improvement in performance. The drink itself is not providing energy; it’s providing a mental stimulus. Individuals are able to perceive the exercise as easier and have a better pain tolerance. The same thing is probably going on when you’re sitting at your desk.

HOW DOES THAT WORK SCIENTIFICALLY?
It’s stimulating certain aspects of the mental system and there’s some evidence that caffeine binds to adenosine receptors in the brain, which increases blood flow over time.

During exercise when you start to fatigue, adenosine rise in the blood and crosses the blood brain barrier, binding to specific receptors. This causes changes in the brain that cause you to feel fatigued and lethargic. What caffeine does is it binds to these receptors, and prevents adenosine to attaching, therefore preventing fatigue from occurring.

WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR SOMEONE LOOKING FOR AN AFTERNOON BOOST?
Dark chocolate is good, and it has a lot of ingredients that aren’t found in milk chocolate, like antioxidants and phenols, that are beneficial. Plus it has high amounts of caffeine. It gives you a boost but later you kind of fall of the wagon. That’s a quick relief but it doesn’t last long.

Pure Sport and some of these energy bars with a combination of carbohydrates and protein are good as well.

WOULD PURESPORT BE SUFFICIENT ENERGY FOR SOMEONE WHO ISN’T NECESSARILY WORKING OUT?
PureSport doesn’t have any caffeine or these exotic amino acids. It’s actually designed for someone who works out, particularly someone who doesn’t want a whole lot of calories. It’s developed to provide sufficient energy and metabolites that are required during exercise so people can sustain their workouts. It’s relatively low in calories, but still provides a good source of energy because you’re getting protein as well. It’s an excellent rehydration drink. One of the things that’s good about PureSport is that the protein actually helps with hydration. A lot of people don’t know that milk is better rehydration than Gatorade. The protein helps you retain the fluid that you’re consuming. It’s been shown than drinks that have protein are a better source of hydration than drinks without protein.